Flashback Fridays: Raskulls (XBLA)

Hello everybody, welcome to another installment of Flashback Fridays. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what’s going on here, please refer to previous articles for more information. Today we are going to take a look at a game that took a rather unusual concept and turned it into one of the most fun platformer games that I’ve ever played. The title that I am referring to is a prime example of just how creative downloadable games can be on any platform, Raskulls.

During my first trip to a video game convention, Pax East 2010, my girlfriend and I had the chance to preview a number of different games together. As fun as most of the games we tried out were, there was one in particular that caught our eye, it was a combination of racing, puzzle solving, and platforming called Raskulls. At first, all of these ideas seemed a little bit strange to us, but after playing through a couple stages in the versus mode together, we were instantly hooked. There was just something about the game that made it fun and easy to get into.

Here’s the best explanation that I can give you when it comes to what this title is all about. Think of it like a game of tetris constantly moving in a downward motion, but instead of placing puzzle pieces together in order to clear lines for points, the player uses those objects to create a pathway for themselves to get through each world. This isn’t just about getting to the end of the stage though, and that’s because each and every level plays out like a race where finishing in first place is more important than anything else. All of these ideas put together created a worthwhile experience that was unlike anything that we’ve seen before on XBLA.

One thing that always sticks out in my mind was the fact that the first time we tried out this game together, and quite a few times afterwards too, she always managed to win every single race against me. Now this isn’t going to be a stereotype that boys are better than girls at playing video games or anything like that, it’s more of a matter of I’ve been playing them all my life, and therefore somebody like me should be able to win against somebody who has less experience with them than I do. Truth is that hardcore or not, in the end,what matters the most is making the right decisions when they need to be made. Still, my girlfriend and I got to do something that we rarely get a chance to do together, participate in an activity that interests the both of us at the same exact time.

Raskulls is an addictive experience that gamers of all ages and skill levels can enjoy, so what are you waiting for? Download it now.

That concludes my story on Raskulls for XBLA, but if you have any fond memories of this game please feel free to share them with us in the comments below.